Kept in the dark about new lights?
By Peter Kelk:
Surbiton street light replacement won’t save money or the environment.
The “Brighter, Cheaper future for Surbiton street lights” article on RBK website is misleading.
In answer to a question I asked the meeting was told:
– The lamps will be more energy efficient individually but the plan is to put up a larger number of lamp posts which will leave the overall power consumption about the same.
In Summary,
- No Saving on power/energy use.
- More posts in the streets causing more clutter
- More light emitted ( isn’t that light pollution?)
All for a set of lamp posts that were only 20 years into an expected 35 year life!
The next request (I’m not joking it was discussed at the Surbiton Neighbourhood meeting) is going to be for new street furniture (bins and railings to the rest of us!) as the current ones are the wrong colour and won’t match the new street lights!
“Newent House ‘likely’ to close” says Osbourne
Cllr. Derek Osbourne, Lib Dem Leader of Kingston Council says that Newent House in Berrylands is ‘likely’ to be chosen for closure. This revelation has caused understandable concern among residents, their families and friends and non-resident users of the services there. We reported some concerns that were raised with us by a Tolworth resident some days ago.
It seems that the Council hasn’t finally decided on this move but will do so at a meeting tomorrow (29th January 2013). The Surrey Comet reports:
Kingston Council aims to reduce the number of people being discharged from hospital into long term care homes by 50 per cent.
The decision will be discussed at a committee meeting on January 29.
Coun Julie Pickering, Conservative opposition member for healthy living and adult services, arranged a meeting at Newent House after being contacted by the daughter of a resident in her 90s.
She said: “It is about making sure all of the change is done appropriately and in a timely manner.”
Call for Council leadership to step aside
Kingston’s Conservatives are again calling for Council leader, Councillor Derek Osbourne, and Lead Member for Children and Young People, Councillor Patricia Bamford, to resign immediately in the wake of the latest childcare scandal. The problems happened “on their watch”, and as such they should take ultimate responsibility, wherever the blame lies.
The Conservative call has been prompted by a tragedy in which a young child witnessed the murder of her mother. A proper response from Kingston’s social workers could have saved the victim. That did not happen, despite numerous requests for help. A brave whistle-blower, who was previously Kingston’s Council’s interim Head of Children’s Social Care, has alleged a disgraceful conspiracy and cover-up. This former senior officer says official records were falsified to support poor responses to the requests for attendance of a social worker.
Councillors Osbourne and Bamford deny any responsibility. They say they were not told by council employees and are blameless. This claim is incredible, almost unbelievable, and very convenient. Now is the time for them to admit their failings as elected representatives and resign. If they did not know, they certainly should have done and to claim otherwise is just unacceptable.
The allegations made by Councillors Osbourne and Bamford leaves Kingston Council’s Chief Executive, Mr MacDonald, in a compromised position. The public must have confidence that he is untainted by the past. Consequently, he will have searching questions to answer during the investigations.
Leader of the Conservative Group, Councillor Howard Jones, says all Conservatives are ready to put politics to one side and do whatever it takes to safeguard Kingston’s most vulnerable children.
“We will work constructively with council employees, relevant agencies and political parties of all shades across the borough. I hope that our local MP, Ed Davey, will join us and also put people ahead of politics. An earlier Ofsted report concluded that the Council’s service was not fit for purpose. An independently chaired Improvement Board has been put in place, together with a new Head of Service, to put matters right and restore the excellent service that we expect from this borough. Kingston’s Conservatives are cooperating fully with the formal initiatives in response to the Ofsted Report and will continue to do so. We will give our full support to any new leadership team.”
Richmond MP Zac Goldsmith has already given his support to Councillor Jones, “There have been deeply worrying allegations of cover-ups and incompetence, and serious questions need answering by the Administration, but the immediate priority must be to get behind and support our very impressive new Director of Children Services and his team.”
Councillor Jones concluded “Now is the time for Kingston’s elected representatives to demonstrate that we have the best interests of residents at heart.”
Mike Head’s 3-point plan for Berrylands
MIKE HEAD HAS LIVED IN BERRYLANDS FOR 30 YEARS AND NOW HE WANTS TO REPRESENT YOU
MIKE’S THREE POINT PLAN FOR MAKING BERRYLANDS A BETTER PLACE TO LIVE:
- FIGHT BACK-GARDEN DEVELOPMENT – The Lib Dems told you in their 2010 manifesto they would “Stop garden grabbing for new homes” and yet it is happening here in Berrylands. It needs to be stopped and Mike pledges to campaign against them.
- STOP THE FLOODING – For too long large areas of Berrylands flood after the smallest amount of rain. Mike wants to stop the flooding and get the Lib Dem Council to clean our drains regularly.
- SAVE OUR GREEN SPACES – Poor maintenance by the Council means our precious open spaces and grass verges are being damaged. We need to send the Lib Dem Council a message that we want our verges cut properly and our green spaces maintained.
SEND A LOCAL RESIDENT ON TO KINGSTON COUNCIL TO HELP MAKE BERRYLANDS BETTER.
tel: 020 8546 6367
email: mike.head@berrylandsconservatives.co.uk
WWW.BERRYLANDSCONSERVATIVES.CO.UK
Promoted & Published by Nick Kilby on behalf of Mike Head both at 3 Bridle Close, Surbiton Rd, Kingston, KT1 2JW.
Questions unanswered – still
from Kingston Conservatives website:
A BBC investigation has revealed that children in Kingston are being let down by the Lib Dem run Council. In a disturbing report it emerges that the Council failed to act when they were informed by Police of concerns about the behaviour of a man in Norbiton. Days later that man murdered his partner in front of their young child and was imprisoned for murder in December.
The Council covered up their disgraceful behaviour by amending records to give the appearance that they had done nothing wrong.
In 2012 Kingston Council failed an inspection on how they care for our children and they sacked their head of Children’s Services but paid him off the day before the Report was published with a year’s salary of £128,000 – all authorised by the Lib Dems. Local people are asking why he was paid anything when he was sacked but also why he was earning this much in the first place?
Leader of the Conservative opposition group in the Royal Borough of Kingston, Howard Jones said “Reading this story is really upsetting. It is not only the loss of a life but a young child exposed to such horrors, all because of a Council that lacks real political leadership and fails to make things happen. It has taken them nearly four years to implement a simple reorganisation of the Council’s admin and now they are starting a reorganisation of how they protect children. I worry that Kingston children are not being adequately protected from horrors such as this sad story.”
The full BBC report can be seen at http://goo.gl/aNMlb.
It seems that neither the Leader of the Council nor the Lead Member for Children’s Services were available for comment when the BBC tried to get a reaction from them.
Ceiling falls in new polling station.
It appears that the plan to move one of the Berrylands polling stations from the Berrylands pub, where it’s been for years, to the Christian Centre in King Charles Road, at the extreme opposite end of the polling district, has hit a snag. From what I hear the ceiling has collapsed.
If this is so, the polling station will probably revert to its former site at the Berrylands – closer to the largest concentration of housing in the polling district.
In case anyone doesn’t know the geography of the area, the Christian Centre is a hall in King Charles Road just south of the junction with Berrylands Road, just round the corner from the Lib Dem HQ.
Surbiton Forum 